1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a steam sterilization system for sterilization of items such as regulated medical waste, and more particularly concerns a steam sterilization system that integrates material handling with the sterilization process to reduce handling and pathogen exposure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Regulated medical waste generated by hospitals and the like is required to be sterilized prior to being disposed. Typically, plastic and/or rubber carts of approximately one cubic yard in size are used in hospitals to collect medical waste which has been placed in waste containment systems (i.e., sharps containers, sealed red plastic bags, etc.). The plastic/rubber carts are used to collect and to haul the containment systems containing the medical waste to the hospital's sterilization unit, where the waste containment systems containing the medical waste are unloaded from the cart and placed into the sterilization unit to be sterilized. After sterilization, the waste containment systems containing the now sterilized medical waste are transferred back onto the cart and conveyed to typically a solid waste compactor unit for final disposal, generally, in a sanitary landfill.
Sterilization units that are based upon steam sterilization generally have a drawback of water condensation from the steam forming on the treated medical waste, which increases the weight of the treated medical waste and therefore the cost of the disposing of the treated medical waste in a landfill.
Sterilization units based upon a vacuum autoclave have the drawback of potentially pumping airborne pathogens out of the vacuum autoclave into the environment during a sterilization process. This leads to potential contamination or alternatively to higher costs in providing filtration systems/ventilators for treating the airborne pathogens being pumped out of the vacuum autoclave.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,393, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a steam sterilization system for sterilizing medical waste and a method of sterilizing medical waste that uses the combination of steam and vacuum. The system comprises a cart for carrying a removable bin for holding medical waste, and a sterilization chamber that receives the bin when it is removed from the cart. The bin may be rolled from the cart and rolled into the chamber along respective rail assemblies on the cart and in the chamber, where the medical waste in the bin is sterilized, and upon completion of the sterilization process, the bin may be rolled from the chamber back onto the cart and transported by the cart to a dumping location.